Essay: Nobility or No Ability?

I find it very interesting that in the Arthurian legends there is such high value placed on the "noblest" of all the people, or at least whoever the crowd of people designates the "best man." What is crazy to me, though, is that most of the time these people aren't even anything special at the beginning. Arthur was a foster-brother of a friend of a knight, a nobody in the kingdom. He had no special abilities, yet, as the saying goes, 'greatness was thrust upon him.' (Although not literally, because if he were literally thrust by a sword then none of these stories would even exist.) He became a great king whenever he was chosen. He became the best man of all whenever he was chosen. He became noble when he was chosen.

This quote from the end of the story The Drawing of the Sword it states:

"Then rich and poor fell on their knees before him, and Arthur took the sword and offered it upon the altar where the Archbishop stood, and the best man that was there made him Knight. After that the crown was put on his head, and he swore to his lords and commons that he would be a true King and would do them justice all the days of his life."

I think it is crazy how at the beginning of this short story he was not confident in his ability to be king, in fact he says, "'But why am I the king?'" But whenever someone is chosen, they live up to their new identity. Arthur lived up to be the king that he was now suddenly revered as.

The same for Sir Galahad in Sir Galahad and the White Knight. There was a shield that would only allow the best knight in the world to carry it:

"Sirs," said the monk, "this shield can be hung round no Knight's neck unless he be the worthiest Knight in the world, and therefore I counsel you to be well advised!"

If a knight who was not the worthiest in the world tried to use it, then ill would befall him every time. Sir Galahad did not believe he was the best knight in the world, but the shield soon made it clear that it was made for him. So he took it and used it, later becoming (arguably) the best knight in the world. He was the one who eventually succeeded in his quest for the holy grail!

These are two instances where there is distinction made between those who are the best or the most noble. I think it is very cool to see, though, that you don't have to be the obvious choice or have been raised in a certain way to be chosen for greatness! I have a theory that every person on this planet longs to change the world, longs to be a hero. Deep down, we all want to partake in greatness. These instances in literature tell us that we CAN be a part of greatness even if we have no obvious ability to do so!

Image Credit: Lisa Congdon Blog

Storytelling Week 12: I'm Banking On It

Arian was a young, attractive, and hard-working twenty-three year-old. She worked part time for J.P. Morgan as a bank teller, as well as was finishing up her Masters in Counseling from SMU. She was the most genuine and honest girl in the world. 

Her and Carter had been dating for almost three years now. They met at the bank where she worked when they were both juniors in college. He graduated with a degree in Sales and Entrepreneurship and his one-man startup business he started the week after graduation has turned into one of the most successful small businesses in Dallas.

Carter fell in love the moment he met Arian, and knew he wanted to marry her immediately. Though he could afford one from Tiffany's, her dream engagement ring was a simple gold band with a simple small diamond on it. She also absolutely loved surprises, so he knew he had to go big since her ring was so small! But surprising Arian proved to be no easy task.

He knew that popping the question at a fancy dinner wasn't really what she would want, so he took a different approach. 

His office building was right above the bank where she worked, and she would occasionally come help him out with the smaller tasks if she had some time off. One day, she went up to visit him and asked if she could help in any way before work.

"Yeah, actually, I need to put something in my safe at Chase downstairs," Carter said in a pretend stressful tone. He handed her a briefcase full of signed documents and legal papers that are integral to the operation of his business. 

Taking them downstairs, Arian realized that she didn't actually have clearance to the safe itself, even though she worked there. I'll just get my friend that does have clearance to do it later, I don't want to stress Carter out. She left the briefcase under her desk and went back to do some teller work.

Minutes later she got a call from Carter. "Hey honey, were you able to get the documents put in my safe? They are really important!" 

She didn't want to stress him out, but had to be honest, "No, sorry Carter, I don't have clearance. I'll have to get my coworkers to do it later."

"Is there any way you could ask now? I just really need to make sure this is done right away." Carter said, his plan working perfectly. By this time, he was downstairs peeking around the corner. Ready to spring into action.

Arian approached her coworker, asking if it was okay to deposit Carter's briefcase even though she doesn't have clearance. Her coworker knowing all about the plan, told her she could go ahead and deposit it herself. Carter was right behind her, and got to watch everything play out perfectly.

Arian went to his safe, about the size of a microwave, and typed in the code. It opened with a click, and sitting right in the middle was a picture of her and Carter with her dream engagement ring with a short note telling her how much Carter loved her. She began to cry and turned around to see Carter down on one knee. 

"YES!" she screamed as all of her office mates clapped and cheered!

It may not be the most romantic, but it sure surprised and was perfect for Arian!

Image Credit: Etsy

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Author's Note: This story is very loosely based on The End Of Arthur from the King Arthur unit, original story written by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H.J. Ford in 1902. In the original story, King Arthur asks Sir Bedivere to throw his sword Excalibur into the nearby lake. He doesn't want to do it, but tells the King he did. King Arthur knew he didn't and told Sir Bedivere he HAD to go throw the sword into the lake. I wanted to kind of use this same concept, where Carter asks Arian to do a task for him that takes a few times to accomplish. That's basically the only thing I kept the same, though. I wanted to write a happy story where there is a happy ending and the story is more relatable. Where, in the original story, everyone dies. 

Reading Diary B: King Arthur

Ah, the quest for the grail! The entire second half of the King Arthur unit is entirely focused on the knights' search for the Holy Grail. The stories jumper from one knight to the other and back to the first. All of the stories are interwoven and by then end you half half of an idea about what happened to half of them. It is beautiful chaos!

Basically, by the end of these stories, I have come to realize that Sir Galahad is the greatest and that Monty Python's version of this is a bit off. I can't imagine what it would have been like to live in the stone ages where jousting and swords were a normal. I would much like to see a jousting tournament, that's for sure!

One thing that surprised me from this unit was how futile the search for the grail truly was. I thought there would be more of a purpose to going, but hundreds of noble knights lost their lives from searching after an object they saw once for a few minutes. Then, once obtained, what even is the prize? The pride coming with it... but then the knight who gets it is the one who is holiest and most humble? So pride wouldn't really be too great of a prize. We see all of this from the way Sir Galahad goes!

What a crazy story that truly is a classic!

A hodgepodge of quotes from the brilliant Monty Python version of King Arthur and the search for the Holy Grail.

Image Credit: Etsy

Reading Diary A: King Arthur

"He likewise told the King many things that should befall him, and warned him always to keep the scabbard as well as the sword Excalibur, and foretold that both sword and scabbard should be stolen from him by a woman whom he most trusted." from The Passing of Merlin from the King Arthur unit.

King Arthur has been a longtime fave of mine. I read all of Arthurian legends in high school, and am happy to have this unit bring back some memories. Plus, there is a really good country song called "Guinevere" for you country music lovers out there. Of course I have to listen to it as I type this! (Listen to it Here) I had long forgotten about a lot of the specific people involved, like Sir Tor and the role that Merlin played and how he died.

The quote I included at the beginning is from when Merlin is about to leave Arthur forever in pursuit of some wicked maiden, and he tells Arthur about all of the bad things that will come of him. I thought this was interesting, and it brought to mind the phrase: "ignorance is bliss." And now I am thinking it actually might be true. I wouldn't want to hear about all of the evil that will befall me, especially if it was something like my crazy half sister coming to murder me in my sleep but stealing my magical scabbard and running away with it instead. I'm better off not knowing that!

Looking forward to the second half!

The magical sword, Excalibur.

Image Credit: Wikipedia